Funded under the EU Framework 7 Security
Programme, BeSeCu (Behaviour,
Security, Culture) is a large
cross-cultural study of people’s behaviour in emergency evacuation
situations. As part of the project, the BeSeCu international consortium
will conduct questionnaire surveys and interviews with people from
across Europe who have been involved in and affected by fires, natural
disasters and terrorist attacks. In addition, the group will conduct a
range of full-scale building evacuations in three different European
countries. These experimental building evacuations will be used to
explore the impact of culture on evacuation behaviour. BeSeCu’s findings
will be used to better tailor emergency procedures and communications
and improve evacuation modelling tools which are used around the world
in the design of buildings. As a result, public safety in buildings,
transport systems and other structures around the world will be
enhanced.

How do members of the public and emergency service personnel think, feel
and behave when faced with an emergency? Does this behaviour vary across
nations and ethnic groups? Moreover, what type of procedures and
communications take place to help people evacuate to safety when an
emergency occurs? With the rise of global terrorism and natural
disasters such as floods, and the continuing occurrence of accidental
and deliberate fires, cross-cultural research into emergency evacuations
is both timely and necessary. To understand how people react when
disaster strikes and whether current emergency operating procedures and
communications can be followed effectively, the BeSeCu team will employ
two methods:

1.Questionnaires and Interviews:

Each BeSeCu partner will survey people in
their country who have been affected by a several types of real
emergency drawn from four categories: a serious domestic fire; a fire in
a public building; a natural disaster; a terrorist attack. Participants
sought are persons who survived such emergencies (e.g. residents, staff,
commuters, hospital patients) and fire fighters who provided an
emergency response at the scenes. Much can be learned from these
people’s experiences and observations.

2.Experimental evacuation trials:

Unannounced evacuation experiments conducted in public buildings will be
conducted in several countries. Observations and questionnaire data will
be analysed to identify similarities and differences in occupant
response behaviour such as; how people interpret the notification cues,
how long it takes people to begin and end the response phase, what type
of actions are conducted during the response phase, how many actions are
conducted during the response phase, etc

The above methods will provide the following: (i)
an evidence base of inter-individual differences in people’s behaviour
(thoughts, feelings, actions) that will be employed to improve
communication in emergency interventions; and (ii) an evidence base that
will enable designers of buildings to develop culturally-appropriate
emergency operating procedures. FSEG's involvement in the project
includes running the UK questionnaires and interviews as well as
managing and running the experimental programme across three European
countries.

Appeal for participants

FSEG are looking for people in the UK to complete an in depth
questionnaire or interview. We invite you to take part in our research
if you are a firefighter or if you have survived a…

a) Domestic Fire: If since January 2000 you have experienced a
fire in your home (e.g. house or flat) or have been affected by a fire
in your building (e.g. your terrace or block of flats) that required the
emergency services to be called out and the place of residence to be
evacuated, we would be greatly interested in hearing your story. For
example, were you caught up in the 2009 fires in Lakanal House in
Camberwell or Carisbrooke Gardens in Peckham, South London? If so, tell
us what happened to you.

b) Fire in a hospital or hotel: If since January 2000
you have experienced a fire whilst in a hospital or hotel that required
the emergency services to be called out and the building to be
evacuated, we would value your participation in our study. For example,
we invite people who were patients (out patients or bed patients) or
staff at the Royal Marsden Hospital, West London or guests at the
Penhallow Hotel, Newquay during the fires of 2007 and 2008 respectively
to tell us your story.

c) Flood: If since January 2000 you have
experienced a flood in your area that required the emergency services to
be called out and your building to be evacuated, then we would
appreciate your input. For example, we seek people from the autumn 2009
flooding in UK regions such as Grampian, Tayside and Cumbria.

d) 7/7 terrorist attacks: If on 7 July 2005 you were in
a London Underground station or Tube train that was directly affected by
the bombings and had to be evacuated, then please take part in this
research. For example, were you standing on a platform and saw or heard
signs of an explosion nearby? Were you in an underground station and
asked to evacuate? Were you on the same train as a bomber, or one of the
other trains that were evacuated?

The experiences of the survivors and the many personnel who respond to
these emergency events will be invaluable to this project. We can learn
from your experiences, but only if you tell us what you experienced!

If you wish to take part and tell your story, please click here to complete our online
questionnaire. If you would like more information or wish to discuss
alternative ways to participate, please contact Dr Lynn Hulse (email:
L.Hulse@gre.ac.uk, tel: 020 8331 8706).